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Billy Elliot the Musical the big winner at Helpmann Awards

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Billy Elliot has been named best musical, while its four teenage
stars shared top honours for best male actor at the 2008 Helpmann
Awards.

The live musical adaptation of the Oscar-winning film was the
big winner of the night, taking home seven of the 11 awards it was
nominated for at the Australian performing arts industry's night of
nights.

Like the film, the musical is set in the North East of England
and is a funny, gritty, heart-warming celebration of one young
boy's dreams set against the decline of a community in Margaret
Thatcher's England.

The four young 'Billys' - Lochlan Denholm, Nick Twiney, Rarmian
Newton and Rhys Kosakowski - beat the original Phantom of the
Opera, Anthony Warlow, to claim the best male actor in a musical
category.

The boys' success won't come as a surprise to Sir Elton John,
who wrote the music for the production.

He was immediately impressed by their talent and always hoped
they would be recognised with awards, just as their counterparts in
the original UK production had.

"Hopefully if there are similar awards here, these boys will win
one too," Sir Elton said at the musical's Australian premiere in
December.

Genevieve Lemon, who plays Billy's dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson,
received the award for best female actor for her work in the
musical, which was also recognised for best lighting design, music
direction, choreography and direction.

The Helpmann Awards, held this year at the Lyric Theatre at Star
City Sydney and hosted by Jonathan Biggins and Julia Zemiro,
includes gongs for theatre, dance, musicals, opera, classical and
contemporary music, and comedy.

Toy Symphony, Michael Gow's play about a playwright with
writer's block, nabbed four major gongs at the awards ceremony,
including best direction for Neil Armfield, best male actor for
Richard Roxburgh and best supporting male actor for Russell
Dykstra, as well as best new Australian work.

Opera Australia's production of Arabella clinched the best opera
title, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was named the
best play.

The big winner of 2007, Company B's Keating!, returned
to claim best regional touring production.

Tanja Liedtke, the late Sydney Dance Company director who was
killed by a garbage truck last year, was recognised with a best
choreography award for her final work, Construct.

Womadelaide was named best contemporary music festival, Crowded
House took out the honours for best Australian contemporary
concert, while Bjork's Sydney Opera House performance in January
was the best international concert.

The awards, named in honour of late Australian dancer, actor,
director and choreographer Sir Robert Helpmann, are Australia's
answer to London's Olivier Awards and New York's Tonys.